SENATE INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF AUSTRALIA’S RAIL INDUSTRY IN NEWCASTLE

Posted by Kim Carr5sc on May 09, 2017

The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee inquiry into the state of Australia’s rail industry will hold a public hearing in Newcastle tomorrow, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Cnr Wharf Road and Merewether Street, from 9am.

The inquiry with hear evidence from:

The Centre for Future Work

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union

Australian Workers' Union (AWU)

Lovells Springs Pty Ltd.

The hearing will give local firms, expert witnesses and workers an opportunity to discuss the future of advanced manufacturing and the Australian rail industry.

Over the next five years, rail-based public transport projects worth more than $45 billion will get under way across Australia.

Demand for new railcars is expected to grow by about 11,000 in the next 30 years.

We need to make the right choices now to ensure those capabilities remain in Australia, supporting Australian jobs.

Australian industry has 150 years of experience in rail design, manufacturing and maintenance.

Labor set up this inquiry to look at how we can maintain and extend those capabilities.

A big part of that is how we manage government procurement and ensure a national approach, so that the maximum amount of work goes to Australian firms and creates Australian jobs.

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Its a bit late to think about this now.NIF project 500 rail cars – $2.3 billion awarded to Korean Train manufacturer August 2016. No Local content.SGT project 192 rail cars – $1.7 billion awarded to Chinese Train manufacturer December 2016. No Local content.HCMT project 455 rail cars – $2.0 billion awarded to Chinese Train manufacturer September 2016. Designed in China, fabricated in China, assembled in Australia.
Certainly not a good time for Australian Rail design engineers and parts suppliers at present.